Emily Project could help save Wainfleet farmer’s lives
Yellow and black signs mark farm fields for emergency services
As a firefighter with more than three decades of experience, Ted Hessels knows the importance of arriving as quickly as possible to an emergency.
And as a lifelong farmer with multiple fields across Wainfleet, he knows the importance of emergency services being able to find him should the need arise.
That’s why in his last year on township council he brought forward Farm 911: The Emily Project and asked for the support of his fellow aldermen to bring it to Wainfleet.
The project is an initiative that encourages property owners to have 911 signs installed at the entrances to their vacant lots, including farmers’ fields and woodlots, so first responders can locate specific farms using a civic address.
It’s named for Emily Trudeau, a seven-year-old who died in a farming accident in Hastings County in 2014.
Because the accident occurred in a field without a marked address, first responders were unable to find the location quickly.
Hessels, Wainfleet Fire and
Emergency Services Chief Morgan Alcock and River Bend Farms’ Joyce Sonneveld said the project was launched a year ago in south Niagara with farmers in Wainfleet and Pelham taking part.
All three are encouraging more people to get involved.
“Don’t wait until you need it to have it,” said Hessels, adding the signs can give farmers peace of mind should an emergency arise.
Alcock said the project was brought to Niagara by the Niagara South Federation of Agriculture, now just Niagara Federation of Agriculture.
“Knowing I had eastern Ontario connections (he was chief in the Township of Lanark Highlands) I was asked to look into it,” he said, adding council supported the idea and the Town of Pelham also brought the program online.
In the past year, he said, as many as a dozen signs have been installed across the township.
Hessels alone accounts for five of the yellow signs.
Alcock said the reflective signs have black numbers and fall in line with the municipality’s 911 addressing and dispatching system.
He said there are farmers, like Hessels, who have multiple farm fields and response times there could be delayed without an address or exact location.
“We have had responses to rural properties that did not have an address.”
Sonneveld, Niagara Federation of Agriculture vice-president, said as a farmer it’s important to know the civic address they’re at while in the fields.
“When an emergency arises requiring a first responder, seconds do count and our newly acquired civic address sign should give an easily identifiable location. So now rather than saying for example, ‘One mile east of the railway on River Road,’ we can now give the actual civic number.
“Thankfully, we have not been in an emergency like this yet,” she said.
Sonneveld said in more remote locations with few homes, the signage can be helpful to the general public in the event of a road accident needing a first responder.
Both she and Hessels said the signs help suppliers know a field’s exact location for deliveries and other jobs.
Hessels said it could prevent outside workers from spraying chemicals on the wrong field, which has happened, and ruining a crop for the season.
“The main focus, though, is on the safety aspect,” he said.
Alcock said with some farm fields stretching an entire concession, signs are placed at one main entrance to make it easier for first responders.
“The address is tied in with our virtual mapping system so we can pinpoint the field and know exactly where we are going in and what equipment we need to direct to a scene,” the chief said.
The three encouraged farmers in the two municipalities to take part in the voluntary program.
Alcock said the township’s planning department is the point of contact for the yellow signs.
With farmers currently harvesting their fields, Alcock and Hessels said people should watch for large farm equipment on the roads in the morning, late afternoon and into the evening.